Bag lounges



1959 M. L. LAWSER ETAL 2,910,707

BAG LOUNGES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 9, 1957 Nov. 3, 1959 M. 1 LAWSERETAL 2,910,707

BAG LOUNGES Filed Aug. 9, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent2,910,707 BAG LOUNGES Mary L. Lawser and Florence J. Schippert, Radnor,Pa. Application August 9, 1957, Serial No. 677,303 Claims. (Cl. 5-444The object of the invention is to provide improvements in carrying bags,bag lounges, cases and such devices as are particularly adapted for butare by no means limited to use, as a unitary part of beach and generalout-ofdoor leisure equipment.

Another and more specific object is to provide a pair of preferablythough not necessarily hollow elements, either one or both of which areso curved transversely as to permit their use as headrests and kneesupports, when separated as far as desired and laid upon a beach, lawn,floor, or other available surface, with their externally curved surfacesexposed upwardly, so as to resemble and function one as a pillow and theother as a knee-lift or the like, and said elements, when hollow andpositioned closely adjacent to each other with their convexly curvedsurfaces directed outwardly, form a transversely enclosed space, adaptedto contain such articles as a light weight blanket, a robe, one or morebathing suits, cosmetics, lotions, etc.

A further object is to provide the major section of each of a pair ofsuch elements with generally transverse curvature, that may terminate inone direction in a substantially plane section, whose free edge isadapted, when in contact with the ground or other suitable surface, tosupport the adjacent portion of said curved major section in well raisedposition with respect to such surface, so that when the opposite freeedge of such curved section also rests upon such surface, said curvedsection may function as a pillow or an elevated knee rest.

to place, and at the same time maintaining the upper edges in closeparallel relation, to thereby prevent the accidental escape and loss ofthe devices contents past said upper edges.

And a still further object is to provide a device of this class in whichthe sheet metal, plastic, veneer, or other material, of which saidelements are primarily formed is normally protected outwardly at leastby a suitable cover, which by suitable means such as grommets-and-studs,glove-fasteners, or the like, may be detached at will as for cleaningand replacement, or for the substitution of another cover of differentmaterial, color and/or design,

while preferably positioned between the outer surface of each of saidsections and its cover is a removable pad of foam latex or othersuitable cushioning material.

With the objects thus broadlyset forth, the invention comprises furtherdetails of construction, function and operation, which are hereinafterfully described in the following specification, when read in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view ofthe assembled device, as when ready to be carried from place to place;Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the two principal elements of the devicein separated relation with a bundle representing possible contentspositioned between them; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the twoessential elements in widely spaced relation upon a lightweight blanketor the like, that may be spread upon a beach or other suitable surface;Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a person lying across said elementswhen spaced apart, as shown in Fig. 3, with his head and shouldersresting upon one of said elements as a pillow, while the other of saidelements serves as a means for elevating the knees and thighs, whilesuch person is in the reclined position; Fig. 5 is an enlargedfragmentary view of the uppermost free end portions of said elements aswhen being carried as a unit; Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view ofthe lower central portion of the assembled device, showing the manner inwhich the two elements are normally joined together in the preferredembodiment of the invention when being carried about; Fig. 7 is adisassembled view showing the three basic members of which each of thetwo main elements is formed; Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-3 of oneof the elements shown in Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is an end elevation of aslightly modified form of the assembled device; Fig. 10 is a perspectiveview of one of the two similar elements of this modified form; Fig. 11is a perspective view illustrating the relatively longitudinally movablemethod of assembly of a pair of elements having a slightly differentform of interconnection at their lower edges; Fig. 12 is a fragmentaryview showing the pie-engaged locking position of the lower portions oftwo further modified elements; and Fig. 13 is a similar fragmentary endview of the same two elements after they have been interlocked andshifted relatively angularly into their normally engaged operativerelationship.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 8 of the drawings, the preferred embodiment ofthe invention essentially comprises a pair of similarly shaped primaryelements 1 and 2, each of which is characterized by a relativelyslightly curved .rest for the shoulders of a reclining person in oneposition (Fig. 4), and in a reversed position, spaced widely from thefirst, serves as a comfortable rest for that persons lower thighs, whilehis neck is supported comfortably by the abruptly curved portion in thefirst instance and his under-knees in the section position, at the sametime that the relatively plane sections serve to maintain saidfirst-mentioned sections in their properly elevated positions withrespect to the surface upon which the user may be reclining.

That edge portion of each of said elements, that determines the free endof the but slightly curved section, is provided with properly spacedapertures 6 through which may be passed sections of suitable rope 7 orother flexible articles, Whose opposite ends in each instance areknotted or oterwise prevented from accidental removal, while each suchrope or the like is provided with oppositely projecting free extensionshaving suitably protected ends 8, said extensions when tied together atthe opposite ends of the assembled device preventing them from becomingaccidentally separated, while the central portions of said ropes or thelike are intended for use as means for carrying the device from place toplace.

Said elements are provided with removable protective covers, that differfrom each other at their normal lower ends as hereinafter referred to.Each such cover is composed preferably of cloth of suitable type, andcomprises a central generally rectilinear portion 9, laterally outwardlypositioned reversely folded marginal strips 10, and at their upper endswith a reversely turned portion 11, through spaced portions of whichextend grommets or other suitable form of protected eyelets 12, that arenormally in alignment with the apertures 6 in the adjacent ends of saidelements, so that the end portions of said ropes can pass through themand be securely though detachably secured in such manner, that the ropesthemselves cannot be accidentally lost, nor become separated from theirrespective elements, and at the same time will operatively secure theprotective covers to said elements, and foam latex or other suitablecushioning means 12a beneath them. i

The opposite and normal lower end portion of each of said covers isinturned at 13, and such inturned portion is secured to the body portionof the cover by suitable stitching at the marginal edges 14, so as tothereby provide pockets in which is normally positioned the lower endportion of the respective supporting element. Additionally, the saidlower portion of one of said covers,

such as the one on the right side of Fig. 2, is provided with alongitudinally extending strip of fabric 15, that may also be elastic ifpreferred, or instead may be formed of any other suitable flexiblematerial, beneath which may be inserted the relatively fiat or planeportion 4 of the other of said elements along with the protectivematerial covering the same. By this construction the two elements may bedetachably jointed by a relative parallel, rectilinear movement of thesaid elements, to form the assembly shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 9 and 10, a modified form of the device is here shownas comprising a pair of similarly constructed, complementary elements,each of which is composed of a hollow stiff wire or tubular peripheralframe member, which in general follows in shape the outline of the basicelements of the preferred form hereinbefore described. Thus, there isprovided in each element a bottom rectilinear section 16, from theopposite ends of which extend relatively short parallel sections 17,that merge into relatively abruptly curved sections 18, then intorelatively straight sections 19, and finally come together in ahandle-simulating curved upper section 2t). The curved sections 18together with the adjacent portions of the bottom parallel sections 17and the uppermost sections 18 are covered by a fabric, plastic, or othersuitable material, so as to afford comfortable surfaces to support theshoulders and neck of a reclining person when in one position, and whenon a given surface in widely spaced relation with respect to such firstposition, to comfortable support the users thighs and under-knees as inthe first described instance. The lower edge portion of such coveringmay be secured to the lower straight section 16 in any suitable manner,as for example by a heavy cord or the like 21 that has its ends securedto widely spaced portions of the adjacent edges of said cover, while itscentral portion passes around the central portion of said straight framesection. Similarly the upper edge portion of such covering may besecured to the upper curved handle section Ztl, by a suitable length ofheavy cord or the like comprising oppositely divergent loops 22 and 23secured to the center of the upper edge portion of said cover and attheir opposite ends encircling widely separated portions of the saidhandle section 20. There is no special locking connection between thenormal lower parallel sections 17, when the two elements are in closelyadjacent and operative relation for containing various extraneousarticles between them, but it will be found by extensive tests that theweight of such articles upon the lower flat sections of said elements,added to the frictional engagement between them, will prevent them frombecoming accidentally separated with resultant escape and possible lossof the contents. However, said elements when desired are easilyseparated, and arranged in any desired relationship upon the chosensupporting surface, as and for the purpose hereinbefore described.

In Fig. 11, there is shown a'pair of preferably rigid metallic or butslightly yielding elements 25 and 26, the lower end portions 27 and 28of which are reversely folded loosely to provide spaces 29 and 30, intowhich the freely reversely extending portion of the other can beinserted, so that with said spaces being but slightly wider than thecorresponding thickness of the other end portion in each instance, thesaid end portions Will be removably retained in position when inassembled relationship as for carrying from place to place, and theupper edges of said elements being constructed so as to function thesame as hereinbefore described. When this form is provided, it will beunderstood that said elements are maintained in expended relationship asthe space between them is filled with extraneous articles, such as thosehereinbefore referred to.

Referring to Figs. 12 and 13, the lower portions of said elements areprovided with normally interlocking, reversely curved flanges 31 and 32,which are in effect hooked portions that may be interlocked at will, byfirst positioning said elements substantially as indicated in Fig. 12,intercngaging said hooked portions, and then reversely moving saidelements, with respect to each other into the final operative positionshown inFig, 13. Then it will be seen that by providing shoulders 33immediately inwardly from said hooked portion 31, it becomes impossibleto remove one such hooked portion from the other, as long as saidelements are in normally close relationship, and their upper ends inclose juxtaposition, as when being carried by means of the ropes orother means hereinbefore described.

it is to be understood that when referring to relatively orsubstantially stiff elements, the same may be actually rigid if desired,but likewise if preferred they may be slightly yielding so as to therebyyield with the weight of the head or thighs, as for example when used asshown in Fig. 2.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A device of the class described, comprising a pair of oppositelypositioned, stiff transversely irregular, curved wholly separable sheetelements, adapted to enclose a hollow space between them, and a broadflexible strap secured at its ends to the opposite edges of the bottomof one of said elements, and normally receiving slideably andfrictionally gripping the lower edge portion of the other of saidelements in close parallel relation, to normally secure the adjacentportions of said elements in overlapping wholly detachable relationship.

2. A device according to claim 1, in combination with carrying meansattached to the parallel upper edges of said elements, and which aresimultaneously held when in closely adjacent relation to carry thedevice from place to place.

3. A device according to claim 2, in combination with a protective coverof yieldable material spanning the outer surface of said elements, and apad of cushioning material between the outer surface of each of saidelements and its cover.

4. A device of the class described, comprising a pair of substantiallyrigid sheet elements having oppositely positioned outwardly curvedmidsections merging in opposite directions in angularly relatedsubstantially plane sections, slideable flexible means to detachablyconnect a pair of said plane sections together frictionally, andcarrying means upon the free longitudinal edges of the other pair ofsaid plane sections operative to secure the adjacent upper edgestogether, while said device is being transferred from place to place.

5. A device according to claim 4, in combination with a detachable coverspanning the outer surface of each of said elements, and a pad ofcushioning material between the outer surface of each of said elementsand its cover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS597,734 McConnell Jan. 25, 1898 1,158,356 Wilson Oct. 26, 1915 1,479,903Erland Jan. 8, 1924 1,805,803 Bulgarini May 19, 1931 2,105,319 Hedden etal. Jan. 11, 1938

